Last evening at the R. Premadasa Stadium, cricket once again reminded us why the game is played with bat and ball — not with press statements, political posturing or television theatrics. India didn’t respond to provocation. It responded to length balls and loose deliveries. And that is precisely why Pakistan, or anyone else for that…
Having played Ranji Trophy cricket for Hyderabad in my younger days and continuing to coach tiny-tots even in my late seventies, I often hear people ask whether India can still produce world-class cricketers. My answer, without hesitation, is yes — abundantly so. Talent is not India’s problem. Guidance, patience, and timely correction often are. When…
Maheshwar Singh As India celebrates a commanding 4–1 T20 series victory, the timing could hardly be better. With the ICC T20 World Cup around the corner, there is a growing sense that something deeper than just form is taking shape — a generational shift that blends raw youth with a fearless new brand of Indian…
Can there be a more stirring tribute to India’s 77th Republic Day than a roaring 3–0 lead over a visiting New Zealand side at Guwahati—just days before the T20 World Cup countdown begins? As the tricolour rises each January, so too does a familiar rhythm in Indian life: the crack of willow, the hum of…
Cricket, like politics, has a short memory and a sharp tongue. One lean series is enough to turn a “Hitman” into “No-Hit-Rohit,” and suddenly the whispers grow louder than the applause. Rohit Sharma’s modest returns in the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand have reignited the oldest debate in Indian cricket: when does a…
In my view, Indian cricket’s most enduring legacy has never been pace or brute power. It has always been spin — shaped by fingers and wrists, guided by flight and drift, and sustained by intellect. Long before India learned to dominate through batting depth or manufacture fast bowlers, it learned how to win by making…
When Belief Became Titles From Contenders to Champions — India Women’s Cricket Has Truly Arrived In the grand tapestry of Indian cricket history, some moments don’t merely shimmer — they redefine an era. The rise of the Indian women’s cricket team under Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy is precisely one such chapter. What we are witnessing is…
The BCCI’s decision to announce India’s T20I squad for the New Zealand series while holding back the ODI squad has triggered a familiar yet unavoidable debate: should Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli be recalled for the three-match ODI series beginning January 11? Whether this delay is strategic or merely procedural remains open to interpretation. But…
The omission of Shubman Gill from India’s T20 World Cup squad is not merely a selection call—it is a tacit admission of error by a selection committee that has lurched from impulsive overreach to reluctant course correction. In doing so, the selectors have exposed the deep inconsistencies, poor succession planning, and knee-jerk decision-making that have…
My cricketing journey began in 1960, in a very different India and an even more different Hyderabad. There were no academies, no video analysis, no floodlit nets. What we had instead were heroes—real ones—roaming the streets of Secunderabad, close enough to touch, observe, and quietly dream about becoming. Names like C. D. Thangaraj, Samluck, and…
